[3830] WPX SSB KQ2M SOSB15 HP

[webform at b41h.net]

                    CQWW WPX Contest, SSB

Call: KQ2M
Operator(s): KQ2M
Station: KQ2M

Class: SOSB15 HP
QTH: CT
Operating Time (hrs): 31.1

Summary:
 Band  QSOs
------------
  160:     
   80:     
   40:     
   20:     
   15: 3092
   10:     
------------
Total: 3092  Prefixes = 1234  Total Score = 10,202,712

Club: Frankford Radio Club

Comments:

NEW US 15 Meter Unassisted Record (Before UBN)

WOW!  What a contest!!!

Every so often, every thing comes together "just right" to produce a truly
memorable operating experience! 

In my case they were:

1) My health making a significant improvement
2) Mark, K1RX and Webb being able to come down to CT do tower work
3) Good conditions that kept improving throughout the weekend!

This Winter I sustained significant damage to antennas/rotators, etc. as did
many others in the Northeast.  Thanks to Mark, K1RX and a brief March thaw that
pushed temps in to the 60's, we were able to stabilize and remount some
antennas, replace damaged rotators and recalibrate them and take down broken
antennas.  This gave me a solid 15 meter lineup and, for one morning, working
20 meter antennas.  Unfortunately the top 20 coax got caught on the top of the
tower and broke the coax, so an a multi-band operation was curtailed.  That
left 15 which had been constantly improving as the daylight increased and the
Solar Flux continued to climb.

Now that I had a solid working Ameritron AL-1500 amp, the idea of single band
15 sounded like fun.  I was talking with Jim, W7EJ/CN2R on 15 a few hours
before the contest (he was planning on a Single Band 15 effort as well), and I
told him that I thought 2,500 - 3,000 q's was possible from the US and about
5,000 from his Morocco qth, if things went well.

The real issue was my health which had improved the past few weeks.  When I
K1RX was on the tower, I was having great difficulty doing something as simple
as puliing a T2X rotator up to the top with a pull rope.  Last Summer I was
pulling up fullsize 5L 20 meter yagis by myself plus a mounted truss (90 lbs),
now I struggled with a simple rotator (20 lbs) and was exhausted after a few
hours as ground crew.  Frankly I didn't know what to expect during the contest
or even if I could operate for a full morning-evening shift, but I knew that it
would be fun for as long as I could operate.

15 kept getting better and better throughout March due to seasonal propagation
changes, but then solar flus kept climbing too, keeping the band open for
longer and longer time periods.  The week before the contest, the SF got up to
110 and I noticed 15 staying open to Northwestern Europe - G/EI/GM as late as
2130z! The band does not really stay open that long, it actually opens and
closes quite a few times after 17-18z.  This "opening and closing" is something
that I have written about for many years and for those that are NOT aware of it,
often causes a premature qsy to 20 with poor rates while the EU stations are
still on 15.

00z
The contest starts and the auroral oval is at 2 with SF=113 and A=3 and K=1,
but the magnetic field BZ = -2.  Good "potential" cndx, but with the Earth's
magnetic field pointing South (negative BZ or -BZ), that means that propagation
could deteriorate very rapidly since the magenetic field would not deflect
anything coming from the sun.

Sure enough, I do not hear any JA's, but cndx to VK are pretty good and I run
quite a few at the start along with some ZL/US/SA.  My first hour is 102 but it
is a struggle and the 01z hour is short with 40q's before even the SA stations
fade away at 0146z.  This is pretty disappointing.  The highlight of the
evening was E51SC calling in at 0048z.  I did note lots of loud KH6 stations,
so that is a good sign.

I ate a good dinner and went to sleep after setting my alarm clock for 4:30 AM
(0930z).  Yuck!

Up at 4:30 AM. I make my meals and coffee for the day and take them
downstairs.
At 10z I turn on the radio and I can barely hear some Eu stations, RK4FF being
the loudest at S5.  The auroral oval is at 0! and the Earth's magnetic field is
now positive - a very good sign.  I expect some pretty good "action" and at
1009z EA2AEJ calls me.  At first I experience a "walk", but by 1016z EU is
calling me for real at at 1029z the run starts, well before sunrise.  YL3AGV is
the first "Russian" station to call in and at 1040z, it is VERY early!  This is
a GOOD sign!  At 1049z stations suddenly jump 2 s-sunits and by 1100z there is
a roaring pileup!  Unfortunately it is also an IMPATIENT pileup and when trying
to dig out a callsign, two others frequently call, slowing everything down.

R9DX is the first asiatic Russian to call in at 1114z, at my sunrise, and this
is very early, just anotehr indication of how good things are about to get!

>From 1100z-1300z, I work 563 stations with 194, 198 and 180 hours and know that
I probably could have worked at least 100 more if not for the combination of
incredible qrm, line noise and the impatience of the pileup.  It was as
frustrating as it was exhiliating!  Along with the great EU rates and many
UA9's calling in, at 1222 VK6IR became the first VK6 in the log (polar path
over the North pole), followed by UN8GV at 1226, 9K2HN @ 1244 (S9+20!) and
YB0MWM at 1254z.  

UA9, VK6 and YB are the "measuring sticks" of how good an opening is at my qth
- how loud they are, over what beaming they peak and at what time they call in,
tell me so much about the "quality" of the band opening and how long the band
may stay open.  So far, it appeared to be a memorable opening!  

Nodir, EY8MM called in @ 1322z with YC1BRS @ 1335z, 3V8SS @ 1349z and HS0ZDR @
1358z.  HS0ZDR was much louder than the EU stations calling!  One note... at
1312z, OH2BR called in and was easily 59+30, about as strong as anyone ever
gets here. I can't even remember the last time I heard an OH station anywhere
near that loud.  I knew that that moment that something special was happening
and many new records might be possible!

By 14z, the pileup was thinning out and it was much easier to dig down.  Some
of the qrm had moved away and, for the moment, no one was cqing with 500-700hz
of my freq.  1400z-1600z saw rates of 155, 147 amd 124 as the noontime
absorption set in and signal strnegths dropped dramatically.  The K stayed at
0! and the auroral oval stayed at 1 (its lowest value) and I knew that I was
going to be able to run EU till at least 21z!

YB0COX called ina t 1513z, with VU2NKS close behind at 1529z.  An occasional
Russian station continued to call in right up to 16z, when for some reason, the
band opened even better into Russia, despite being well into darkness for them! 
A LOUD 9V1YC called in @ 1646z with 4L6DL @ 1703z.  Finally at 17z, I turned one
antenna a bit further South towards Africa, and 9J2BO called in at 1734z.  Eu
was dying out so I pointed the top antenna @ W6 and was greeted with a slow but
steady stream of US callers.  I half expected a US pileup, but it never
happened.  Some of the US stations were loud, but most were very weak!  I
wasn't able to figure out why it was so hard to run US stations with such good
cndx, I certainly could use the prefixes and was trying hard to get them. 
WK6LA called in at 1735z and said "Glad to see you back in the chair".  What a
nice thing to say!

At 1737z Eu COMPLETELY disappeared!  No US either.  I suspected a flare, but
nothing on the NOAA websites.  Hmm....  The 17-19 hours were 92/94/81, but it
was a tough to copy mix of mostly weak EU and weaker West Coast, punctuated by
a very loud West Coast station.  It was almost like the "spotlight"
propagatiopn that we often see on 15, but with such good cndx it was baffling.

15 kept opening and closing to EU with a fairly steady stream of West Coast/Mid
West and occasional East Coast station on scatter. With (finally!) a clear
freq., I was now able to dig them out as they called.

At 2000z, EU got stronger on 15 and tthe late Northwestern EU opening got
started with many G stations calling with an occasional PA/EI/GM and OH
station.  At 2031z I was very surprised to hear RK4FF call in!  It is quite
unusual to hear a Russian station so late on 15 at this point of the cycle.

With the improvement in propagation, the 20-21z hours were 99 and then 110 as I
was getting calls from EU, SA the US and the Pacific with FO5Qb calling in at
2048z.  I almost fell out of my chair when Tonno, ES5TV called in @ 2104z! 

JA0AXV was the first JA at 2107 and almost immediately I was called by many
others.  It was a real JA run that I was experiencing - very exciting on 15
meters for only the 3rd time this cycle.  DS5TOs called in 2128z and then Jim
CN2R with a HUGE #2737 @ 2139z.  I gave him #1665.  JA's continued to call and
at 22z the band opened to China with B1Z calling at 2206z followed by BD4HQ @
2212z.  Du1UGZ follwed @ 2230z and BD3OE @ 2259z.  While JA faded a bit, YB8EL,
HL5/LA8JKA and BG2AUE all called in the next 10 minutes follwed by several
UA0's, YB1C, DS1PRD and VK6EDX!  BV1EK called in @ 2355 and I was practicalyl
jumping up and down with excitement and what might call me next!

BY 2359 I had 1826 q's and 896 mult and things were still getting better!
The K stayed at 0 and the auroral oval stayed at 1 all day and the Sunspot
Number had jumped up to 113!  WOW!!!

I constantly had to move my antennas around as up to 2230z I was still getting
calls from Europe as well as from JA/SA/ the Pacific and the US.  It was at
least 6 or 7 years since that had happened!

The slow but fun run continued into the 00z hour with BY4DX @ 0006, HL4CCM @
0011 and BG4TYQ @ 0016z.  JA slowed down to a crawl, bu then VK6HD called in
follwed by by "China Run" of BA1SN, BD6JJX and BA6IV.  I was becoming aware
that the flutter was very different on BA stations as compared to JA stations.
JA stations had slow flutter and deep qsb, while BA stations had rapid flutter
and very little qsb.  I saw this difference all throughout the weekend!

At 0130z I was getting almost no callers, but 15 was still open so I tuned up
the band at worked BA1AI, DZ1B, Robin 4H9RG, B7P and 4H1T.  I notice several
Chinese stations calling CQ with no takers as well as numerous LOUD HL/DU/UA0
stations.  Apparently China has gotten so common now, that many stations pass
them by without calling!  Amazing! 

With 15 still open @ 0145z, I left 21200 and called cq on 21245 and immediately
called by both BY5CZ and 9M8Z.  I couldn't believe this was actually happening!
The run was short and sweet - just those two stations.  I S & P's a few JA's
and SA stations and then went upstairs to eat and sleep.  I finished the
evening with 1905 x 925 for about 4.75 Meg, and for the first time I began to
thing about the possibility of a US record.   It would take at least another
900 q's and 100 mults, but it was possible if the great 15 meter conditions
continued - which was not that likely with a CME (Coronal Mass Event)
predicted.

Up at 4:30 AM again to make sandwiches and coffee to bring downstairs, stretch
out and plan my medication schedule for the day, I was wide awake and ready to
go at 10z.  15 however, had other plans and was dead.  I checked the NOAA Space
Weather sites and saw that the Auroral Oval was at 4 and we had had a brief
flare 00z.  Uh oh!

I turned all my antennas East and started cqing.  Nothing.  Les, KG1E was my
first Sunday qso at 1024z follwed by ZS6P and ZS1XUK at 1030 and 1035z.  CT1BWO
was my first EU caller at 1039z, 30 minuted later than Saturday.  Finally I
started to be heard at 1041z and C31CT called in @ 1047z.  I struggled for the
next 45 minutes until a UA1, who apparemtly been underneath me (and inaudible
to me), decided to move away.  At 1121z the UA1 moved and it was "pedal to the
metal!".  An instant pileup of EU and Russians ensued with R9WS the first
Sunday UA9 caller @ 1131z.  VU3DJQ called in very early @ 1143z ofllwe dby
A71EM at 1146z.  A furious run of Russians started at 1147z and the band just
EXPLODED!  Rates went to 300+ per hour at times as I started hearing 4th level
EU /Russian stations that I have never heard before.  Mixed in were HS0ZBG,
R8TX, UN8PT, UN6G, UN7TO and many others.  Cndx were simply INCREDIBLE!

As the clocked turned from 11z with a 121 hour, 12z - 13z brought the most
amazing cndx on 15 that I have heard in several decades!  A roaring pileup of
Russian stations made it hard to pick out YC9AOS, YB1AQD, Rt9T, UB8QAA, HS0ZHG,
VU2DK, E20YLM, 4K9W, EY8BJ, UP7P and countless more, with a very loud KG6DX
calling in over the North pole @ 1357z and XV1X calling in @ 1426z!
5D5A also called along with HZ0ZDG and YB1UUN.  The memorable 12-14z hours
produced rates of 136, 135, 118, but even more important were all the prefix
rarities as the band opened wide up to all of Central and Western Asia!

after 15z, it was predominately Eu with an occasional US/SA station and rates
in the 90's and 80's per hour.  GM0EGI called in at 1638z and hurt me ears
because he was so loud!  He said I was S9+40!  At 1747z, 3V1A called in and I
realized that I should turn one antenna toward Africa. 5X1NH called in @ 1816z
follwed by ZA1E and, RObert, ST2AR with an incredible signal @ 1835z.  I turned
the 3rd antenna to the West so that I could work stateside and more prefixes and
was greeted by a steady but slow stream of US callers with ZL3IO .

I now had my antennas at NE, West and South and was constantly moving them
about to make sure that I was being heard all over.  Much to my amazement, the
Auroral oval dropped back to 1 and the K stayed at 0.  This was an
exceptionally rare occurrence with a SSN great than 100!  Cndx were simply
outstanding.  I couldn't believ ehow lucky I was!  At 1900z I was still running
EU with rates in the 70's and 80's and I had 2785 q's x 1154 mult for 8.665 meg
and had blown way past the existing 15 meter record of 7.5 meg!

3D2A called in @ 1941z, but then promptly disappeared, so he was NIL (not in
log).  Oh well.

At 2000z I was still being called by the occasional LOUD Eu station, along with
a weak US station, mostly on scatter or SA station. A LOUD OY3JE called in at
2032z and told me that once again there would be good JA/Asian run.  JA6GCE was
the first JA station to call in at 2100z.  All of a sudden the auroral climbed
up to 4 and then up to 7 and JA basically disappeared.  I turned two antennas
at EU and constantly rotated the 3rd from West Coast to SA and then back again
to maxmimize coverage.  Every so often a JA station would call in and get my
hopes up, so that I would swing the top antenna to JA, and then no one else
would call.  Fortuantely the band was open to CHINA!
as B3C called in at 2232z, BA1AI called in @ 2240z and then, in the surprise of
the weekend, a super-weak but thankfully super patient 4W3A called me @ 2244z!

It took me 3 minutes to get his call and number correct.  Only twice before in
38 years of being licensed had I ever heard a 4W station, and it was NOT in a
contest!  After I worked 4W3A, the contest felt "complete" to me.  All that was
left was to see if I could break 3,000 q's and 10,000,000 points Single band,
something that had never been done in the US before!

I kept calling cq and and @ 2251z, BA2EX called in along with a few JA's and
KL7's.  VK6HAD called in @ 2258z and DX1DBT @ 2302z follwed by VK6DU @ 2312z.
This afternoon I had worked VK6 short path, long path and skew path by BOTH
North AND South! What a hoot!  with the Auroral Oval at 7, I was not hearing
much and I was about swing the antennas South to work the SA/CA stations, until
4W3A called me again, just to make sure I had worked him the first time. Duped
by a 4W station!  What a wonderful experience that I would gladly repeat in
every single contest!       

At 2322z I worked W0RAA who put me at 10,000,998 points!  Shortly after that,
and with no more run, I tuned up the band to work everyone.  Cndx were still ok
and I work 25 more q's with 15 prefixes.

I finished an exciting last minute (2359z) with 3's and mults, BX5AA, WN2O and
WH7Z.  It just doesn't get any better than that!

Final score before UBN:

3,092 q's x 1,234 prefixes = 10,202,712

Although that score will almost certainly drop below 10,000,000 points, I was
thrilled to break 3,000 q's and 10 Meg points on an Unassisted Single Band
effort from the US!

Here are a few stats from the weekend:

Q's by country:

BY  15 !!
Dl 358 !!
EA  99
G  246 !!
HS   6
I  149
JA 153 (a lot for Northeastern US)
K  467 (much lower than I expected)
PY  45  Muchas Gracias!
UA 167  WOW!
UA9 65  
UR 118 !!! Incredible number from Ukraine!
VK  25
YB  11

Prefixes:

252 from US  (I expected more like 400)
 52 from JA
141 from Russia!
109 from DL  WOW!

I also worked all 7 UK countries on 15 - I have only done this twice before.

The most amazing thing to me though is that, without trying, I worked 131
countries on 15 in this contest!!!  

Normally I will work 100 - 110 countries on a single band effort or 120
overall, but 131 countries on 15 without bothering to look for SA/CA and Africa
just points out how incredible the activity and cndx were all weekend!

Finally, I would like to close on a more somber and "real-world" note.  I want
to thank all the Japanese contesters for operating in WPX.  Words are
inadequate to express the depth of our sadness at the tragic events that have
occurred in your country.  Please accept our strength and friendship and
support as you recover and rebuild.

73 to all and thanks for the q's!     

Bob KQ2M

kq2m at kq2m.com

www.rlsfinancialgroup.com


Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/